MEMPHIS, Tenn. —
The Memphis Fire Department confirmed 10 apartment units are a total loss after lighting struck an apartment complex Wednesday afternoon.
Nathaniel Ramirez lived in Trinity Lakes Apartments in Cordova with his wife and 3-week-old child.
“I was working, and I heard thunder that was incredibly loud; my wife and I both jumped," Ramirez said.
He then looked outside through a glass door but didn’t see anything.
“Like fifteen minutes later when I heard someone on the floor above me like knocking hard on the door and saying ‘fire'," he said.
As Ramirez works to recover he says he’s grateful that his family is safe and thankful he has insurance that will help him recover.
“Thank God we’re safe and thank God we have insurance," Ramirez said. “We realize that we’re lucky and that now we just have to build something better and hopefully, I can pay it forward."
This was the second major fire at Trinity Lakes in three months - a building at the complex caught fire in July, severely damaging 10 units.
MFD said one firefighter was injured while battling the fire when part of a breezeway fell on top of him. That firefighter was taken to St. Francis - Bartlett Hospital and is expected to be OK.
A second firefighter suffered a back injury but was not taken to the hospital.
MFD said they responded to the fire at 2:41 p.m. Wednesday when the upper floors of the apartment building at the 7800 block of Racquetball Lane caught fire after being struck by lightning, but did not spread to nearby buildings.
This is also the second major apartment fire this week in the Memphis area.